Blue Jays at Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays continue to get contributions from throughout their roster and look to finish off a four-game sweep of the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon with a welcome sight on the mound. Tyler Glasnow, who was the American League Pitcher of the Month in April before going down with a strained forearm in mid-May, returns to the hill for the Rays in the series finale.
“I’m excited to get back out and pitch in a big league game,” Glasnow, who was 4-0 with a 1.74 ERA in five starts during April, told reporters. “I’ve been preparing for this for a while.” Tampa Bay fell behind by a run Saturday, but Kean Wong notched his first big league hit and run to tie it in the seventh and Daniel Robertson registered his first multi-RBI game since May before Oliver Drake struck out the side in the ninth for his second save as the Rays won 5-3 for their ninth victory in 10 games. While Tampa Bay owns the top spot in the AL wild-card race, the Blue Jays have dropped 15 of their last 18 and are just 4-11 against the Rays in 2019. Catcher Reese McGuire had an RBI single in the latest loss and is 9-for-17 with a homer and three runs batted in over his last six contests while teammate Jonathan Davis had a pair of hits and an RBI after going 2-for-14 in his previous seven games.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, OMNI, TVA (Toronto), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Jacob Waguespack (4-3, 3.97 ERA) vs. Rays RH Tyler Glasnow (6-1, 1.86)
Waguespack has struggled in consecutive starts since limiting the Los Angeles Dodgers to one hit and one walk with five strikeouts over seven innings on Aug. 22. The 25-year-old Louisiana native yielded nine runs (five earned) on seven hits and seven walks across seven innings in his last two trips to the mound versus Atlanta. Travis d’Arnaud is 2-for-5 with a double against Waguespack, who is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three appearances (two starts) versus the Rays this year.
Glasnow is expected to go about two innings as the opener in his first appearance on a major league mound since May 10 when he suffered his only loss of the season. The 26-year-old California native completed 2 1/3 innings in two outings with Triple-A Durham, allowing two hits and three walks with three strikeouts before being recalled. Rowdy Tellez is 3-for-6 with two homers versus Glasnow, who was 0-2 with a 7.41 ERA in four starts against the Blue Jays last season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tampa Bay OF Austin Meadows has hit safely in seven straight games overall (13-for-24) and is batting .443 against Toronto this year.
2. Blue Jays rookie SS Bo Bichette is 0-for-8 with three strikeouts the last two games after homering twice in the series opener.
3. Rays LF Tommy Pham (right flexor strain) returned after missing two contests and extended his hitting streak to seven games (12-for-27).